


Appearances can be Deceiving

by InvitingNonsenseWorld



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2015-11-11
Packaged: 2018-04-20 17:18:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,697
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4795796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/InvitingNonsenseWorld/pseuds/InvitingNonsenseWorld
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Deceiving humans and getting a snack had always been an easy pastime for Ace, since there weren't many who could resist a Kitsune's beauty. However, something goes wrong and doing that becomes part of an important plan. He can't be picky anymore, but when an interesting prey finally appears, he considers himself lucky. He might have just found an exciting game to play. Meiji Era.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Finally uploading this here. I started writing this last year for the One Piece Halloween Fic Project on Tumblr. I took a different approach on the theme, so even if it has the supernatural genre, it's not really Halloween-ish. This was supposed to be an one-shot, but I saw I wasn't gonna finish in time and decided to split it into chapters.
> 
> The story happens sometime during the Meiji Era in Japan (1868 - 1912). You don't have to know much about that period, only that Japan opened to foreigners and started changing from its feudal form to a modern one. Also, in case you know the mythical Japanese creatures that'll appear, I'm only following some things from the legends while adapting others.
> 
> This story is dedicated to lunarshores, who is an amazing person and even betared the chapter too. Thanks a lot! <3

_Important words:_

_Kitsune_  – They are a type of  _yokai_ , or spiritual entity, though they aren't ghosts. Fundamentally, they're like regular foxes who possess superior intelligence, long life, and magical powers. It's said that the higher the number of tails a Kitsune has, the older and more powerful it is.

 _Hakamashita_  –  _Hakamashita_  means "under hakama". Basically, it's a  _kimono_  that's cut shorter and with a slit in the back, so that it will fit comfortably under a  _hakama_. A "shirt" of sorts.

 _Hakama_  – There are different types of  _hakama_ , but in this story I'll only use one. It's a large trouser that's tied at the waist and falls approximately to the ankles. They are worn over a  _hakamashita_.

 _Obi_  – It's a sash that was (and is) used with traditional Japanese clothes to hold them. It stays a bit above the hips, and it differs in style and size depending on if it's for young or old women/men. Men's are much simpler, being many times only a plain ribbon. Women's have many designs and are bigger.

 _Geta_  – It's a type of old Japanese footwear. It's a kind of sandal with an elevated wooden base held onto the foot with a fabric thong to hold the foot.

* * *

It was already getting dark when Ace finally sat on the branch of his newest favorite tree. As usual, he rested his body against the tree trunk and crossed his arms behind his head, getting in a comfortable position.

He looked around scanning his surroundings, taking time to thoroughly analyze the still busy roads. The main one, which crossed the forest, was often used by the residents of the closest city to reach houses on the outskirts, some shops and the temple; the second road, a small dirt one, was a shortcut that lead to the edge of the city. Both were crucial to Ace for tonight, and it was of utmost importance that he kept part of them in his sight for now.

 _It's gonna take a while today._  Ace sighed mentally when the flow of people didn't seem to be decreasing after a while.  _Expected, since it's Saturday, but I might lose my chance to catch my prey like this…_

Without nothing else to do but look at people walking and talking, Ace soon got bored. He needed something to distract him from the sense of restlessness that had been with him for a while now. If he didn't act calm, his strategy wouldn't work, and it could take even longer to reach his goal.

Feeling his  _obi_  slid down a bit from his hips, Ace turned his eyes to it with a frown. Just like the other nights he did this, he had to make sure he was looking good enough, or his plan could backfire, so this wouldn't do. Sighing, he started fiddling with it so it'd stay tied tightly and hold his  _hakama_.  _At least, it's a distraction._  He though absently while switching his attention to his  _hakamashita_  in a search of any possible holes.

Nodding to himself when he finally deemed his clothes were fine, his eyes went back to the main road. A few other people were still there, but no one else seemed to be coming; it was time to start.

Ace extended one arm and opened his hand, watching with a fond smile the fire that started to grow from the tips of his fingers. The familiar soft sound and light the flames created, always brought tranquility to Ace and made this be one of his favorite parts in his routine. His hand made a cupping motion, and the fire followed, molding into the form of a ball.

Ace dropped it and watched as the fireball floated in front of him. Repeating the action, he soon had many others surrounding him with light and warmth.  _Good thing I'm high enough or somebody would be bound to notice this._

He pointed to his left and observed as his creations seemingly disappeared from sight. A tiny flicker of light coming from down the road, away from the direction the last few people were heading, showed the fireballs were in their positions.

Ace chuckled while he closed his eyes; it was amusing how this technique always worked with humans. They had created a name for it – he thought it was something like Will-o'-the-Wisp – in an attempt to avoid it, but many travelers still mistook them for city lights. He wasn't going to complain since it made his job of leading them towards him easier, but it didn't make their stupidity seem any less contemptible.

Regardless of how little Ace thought humans used their brains, he needed one to appear soon. He was growing hungrier each minute, and if he had to wait much longer, he was sure he'd leave it for another day and go looking for some fire that was not his own to eat.

A sudden disturbance coming from one of his fireballs made Ace's eyes snap open. He felt it waver and disappear, signaling exactly what he wanted: someone had passed by it.

Smirking, Ace jumped off the branch and fell on the ground with a soft thud. He brushed a non-existent dust from his clothes and got a small basket with cloth and fruits from where it rested by the tree trunk. Walking though the familiar forest was easy for him and soon he found himself by the main road.

Ace's fireballs were always directed to a road nearby, where they'd attract someone and lead them to the main one where he waited. After that, their job was done, and it was time for Ace to put on his act.

He felt another one of his fireballs disappear, signaling the person was already on the right road, just like planned. Putting a serene smile on his face, he started to walk in the direction his target was coming from while humming a song; it was time to start.

Soon, the figure of a person, who Ace identified as a traveler by his clothes, appeared lit by the last one of his fire creations. It soon flickered out as well and left only the bright moonlight to illuminate the place. As expected, it didn't look like the man had noticed the missing light, only increasing Ace's exasperation with humans' foolishness.

As they drew nearer, the human seemed to see he wasn't alone and went a bit to the side. Ace, however, kept going on his way and used the opportunity to analyze his target. He had to avoid scrunching his nose;  _Kitsunes_  loved beautiful beings and, unfortunately, this man wasn't one. It could have been worse, he knew, but seeing such an oily black hair held in a ponytail coupled with the sweaty face of the traveler didn't help. That's what he was going to have to endure if he wanted to make his plan to work faster.

The man suddenly stopped altogether, and his mouth opened in surprise. Ace tried not to roll his eyes; there was the typical human reaction.  _Kitsunes_  tended to take great care of their appearances, and Ace's experience showed that, for some reason, most humans always found them extremely attractive. It didn't matter if his target liked others of his gender or not; he  _would_ end up interested in Ace, whose strategy would progress smoothly.

The traveler blinked his eyes a couple of times before shaking his head. He looked around as if disoriented before making sure his bag was securely attached to his shoulders. Nodding to himself, he resumed walking, this time watching Ace with a thoughtful expression.

Meanwhile, Ace kept approaching and pretending he didn't care about the traveler one bit. His mouth turned slightly upwards when he reached a small distance from his target; time to begin.

He pretended to stumble and let his basket fall, some of the fruit scattering on the ground. He cursed softly and kneeled to gather them, only to suddenly get another pair of hands helping him.

"Do you need help with these?" The traveler asked though he was already holding an apple and putting it in its place.

"Oh, don't worry, I can do it. I wouldn't want to bother you." Ace looked apologetically at the man.

"It's not a bother." From so close, there was no hiding the satisfaction that showed on the man's face.

"If that's the case, then I'll accept your help. Thank you." Ace suppressed the urge to snort and smiled sweetly instead.

Soon, all the fruit was gathered up, and they rose. Ace bowed slightly as a show of gratitude, but before he could leave, the traveler put a hand on his shoulder.

"If you don't mind, could you help me in exchange? I'm heading for a place to stay at in the closest city, but I think I got lost on the way." His eyes traveled across Ace's body in a subtle way, and since Ace was already used to that, he easily noticed the action.

_Someone's feeling confident, huh..._

"You're lucky. There's a city close to here. I could show you the way to an inn, but I need to leave this basket at home…"

"I'm in no hurry, actually." By now, the man's voice held a barely concealed desire. It was no wonder, though; Ace knew by experience that travelers tended to be the most eager ones of his targets, probably because of their long time away from a companion who'd satiate their needs.

Ace bit his lip with a feigned thoughtful expression and then widened his eyes a bit, as if in sudden comprehension. The man tensed before a confused look appeared on his face at Ace's small smirk.

"Well then, if you want… you can come with me, and after that I'll take you there."

The traveler's mouth opened slightly in surprise, as if he couldn't believe what he heard.  _Of course you're not that lucky. I just so happen to want the same as you._  Ace resisted the urge to say.

"I don't think I'll find the way alone in this darkness, so I'll accept your offer. Thank you." The man tried to straighten his clothes and flashed a charming smile.

Ace turned around, so the man wouldn't see him rolling his eyes, and started walking towards the dirt path, a more secluded way that'd give them enough privacy.  _It won't take much longer now._

He only had to stretch once, move his hips a bit more than necessary, and smirk at the traveler over his shoulder to get the reaction he had been waiting for. His basket fell again on the ground as Ace's back hit the closest tree, but this time no one stopped to gather the fallen fruit.

The wandering hands were rough and needy, but nothing that Ace hadn't been expecting. He let the man take the lead, all the while trying to control the restlessness that grew with each step closer to his goal; it wasn't the time to get distracted.

Ace let a smirk fall on his face and licked his lips, knowing the human would mistake the meaning of the action. What he wanted now was right there; he could feel it crawling under the man's skin, a vivid life force only humans possessed.

And if the only way to get such a delicious meal and make his plan go forward was through sex with an unkempt human, then so be it.

* * *

"People at the city are getting restless, you know. Another sick-looking person arrived only to die shortly after."

It was with those words that Ace's friend greeted him that afternoon. Ace only snorted and lied down on the grass with his arms behind his head. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the feel of the afternoon's sunlight on his face for a second before answering.

"You say it as if it was a bad thing, Nami."

"It is, but I guess it does help you in a way." Ace opened his eyes just in time to see Nami rolling her eyes. She sat down on a rock, took off her  _geta_  with a satisfied sigh and started to comb her long red hair with her fingers, fluffy ears suddenly appearing on top of her head.

Ace heard Nami start talking about something, but he was too sleepy to pay attention. The comfortable warmth the sun provided helped his muscles relax, and he felt himself closing his eyes again.

That was when a pebble hit him on his head.

"Hey, what was that for?!" Ace glared at Nami.

"You weren't paying attention to what I was saying, so I figured that'd wake you up." She shrugged. "Now, can you pay attention?"

Grumbling under his breath, Ace threw the small rock away. "What do you want?"

"Did you have anything to do with it?"

"With what?"

"With those sudden cases of people dying with a mysterious sickness." Understanding appeared on Ace's face, and he hesitated for a second, not knowing what he should say. At his silence, Nami groaned before glaring at him. "I can't believe you! You did it again?! I thought I had convinced you to stop for at least one city! It's not like the trail will be lost!"

"Who said it was me?" A sudden strong wind started blowing around them, making Ace immediately sit up with his hands raised. "Okay, okay! It  _was_  me! No need to get angry."

"I have every right to get angry!" Nami huffed crossing her arms; nonetheless, the wind calmed. "That's dangerous for you and for our kind, Ace! We have to go forward with caution! Until now, it's going as you want and the rumor of people suddenly dying is spreading, but what if the humans' superstitious side suddenly decides it's not a sickness, but a creature that's doing it? You know how people believe those mythical tales."

"Well, then they wouldn't be wrong. Plus, it would help me too."

"Ace!"

"What?" When he saw her looking at him with her hands on her hips, he sighed and crossed his legs, getting into a more comfortable position. He knew where this conversation was going to, and he didn't like it. "What do you expect me to do, Nami? You know I don't like the idea of staying still."

The annoyance that was on Nami's face disappeared, leaving an exasperated expression. "Yeah, I do, but it doesn't mean I approve of your means. Are you sure this is the best way to do it? We've been traveling together for a while now, and nothing has happened."

"And yet, you're reprimanding me."

"That's  _not_  the point."

Ace passed a hand through his hair, and averted his gaze; he tried to ignore the frustration bubbling inside of him. "I don't know, but it's the only thing I can think of. Only searching didn't work, so maybe bringing attention through rumors to the place I'm at will. The signs are easy to recognize."

"Which makes it even easier for unwanted people and trouble to come too."

"Then I'll deal with whatever comes. I'm prepared, so it'll be fine." Ace pinched the bridge of his nose. "It has to work sometime, Nami."

A hand touched his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. Ace turned and saw Nami looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, alright. You're too stubborn for me to change your mind. I might not approve of the way you're doing this, but it doesn't mean it can't work – even with all the danger. I'm still keeping an ear out for any kind of positive information, so if there's any sign it's working, I'll know it." Her grip tightened painfully. "Now, if you could only not risk our disguise so much, I'd appreciate it a lot…"

"Right, I'll be careful!" Ace winced: Nami was much stronger than she seemed to be. When she released him, he quickly got to a safe distance from her.

Nami rolled her eyes. "You better be, especially if you find  _him_."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Ace smirked, eyes gaining a ferocious glint. "I know perfectly well how to deal with him when we meet."

"Just don't underestimate him. You did it last time and got in this situation."

A shadow passed over Ace's eye as flash of a bloodstained ground crossed his mind. He shook his head and forced a cheeky grin, trying to pull the memory away. "Nah, it's okay. I've got it this time. And I promise to lay low and not get another human for a few days, then."

"Oh, that's so kind of you." Nami put a hand over her heart sarcastically. She got up and stretched. "Really, you succubus  _Kitsunes_  are just impossible."

"What can I do if the humans' life force is delicious?" Ace shrugged before lying down again. "It's helping me now, and it's also a fun way to get food, so why not?"

"I can't really argue with that, but you could at least leave them alive. They're more amusing like that."

"Hey, I don't kill them! It's not my fault they're too weak to recover! And you're only saying that because you like their money."

"Oh, shush!" Nami rolled her eyes, making Ace chuckle at her lack of arguments. She took a pouch from behind her  _obi_ and smiled devilishly while waving it proudly, a jingling sound accompanying it. "But it's true that I like it! You can do so many things with it! And it's easy to get it, since humans are always so distracted."

"It's more like you're the one too good at pickpocketing." Ace eyed the pouch curiously. "How much did you get this time?"

"Enough for a bath in the hot spring of the next city, so don't even think about touching it." She glared at him before releasing the object. Ace's eyes accompanied it as a soft wind appeared and carried it until it was on the ground near Nami's  _geta_. When he looked back at her, she was watching him critically. "Good, you already took a bath. I don't want a stinking  _Kitsune_  near my things. I'll go to the river now, so I'm counting on you to take care of them."

"As you wish, ma'am."

Ace's only answer was a warning look before the woman in front of him disappeared, leaving a bunch of clothes in a pile on the ground. He looked to the side just in time to see a red fox with two tails running towards the river with such elegance it seemed to be barely touching the ground.

Ace shook his head amused. "It's during these times that I think being a wind  _Kitsune_  must be nice. Oh well, I'm still happy with my fire."

And with that, he went back to enjoying the afternoon sunlight, all the while trying to ignore what Nami's words reminded him of. He wouldn't let his insecurities gain strength now, after so many weeks. His plan would succeed, or he'd find that man; there was no doubt in that.

* * *

The bustling sounds of the city surrounded Ace as he strolled through the streets. His eyes watched everything around him lazily, never stopping on anything for too long. He sighed in boredom and sidestepped a distracted woman who almost bumped into him.

 _Isn't there anything interesting to do in this city?_  Ace grumbled in his mind, annoyed.

He was having a bad day. First, he woke up almost at dawn with a storm going on. It caught him by surprise, so he ended up soaked before he reached a safe covered place. It also didn't help that a dry Nami smugly stated that she had warned him it was coming.

After that, he wasn't able to go back to sleep, so he used the time to dry his clothes with his fire – which took longer than he wanted because he almost burned them.

Next, when it was morning, and he was going to the city with Nami's reminder of his promise, he somehow made a bird's nest fall on the ground. That resulted in an angry bird pecking him incessantly until he finished fixing it.

By the time he arrived at the city, his humor was already ruined. Now he only wanted to find something to distract himself with, though he hadn't had luck finding anything so far.

 _Today's gonna be great._  Ace sighed.

He was just about to make a turn to another street when a meow caught his attention. He looked to his left and there, at his feet and close to an alley, was a stray cat.

"Oh, hello." Ace raised an eyebrow, curious. He knew most animals didn't talk like mythical creatures, but he still felt some could understand him.

The cat meowed again, sat down and stared at Ace's face. Its tail was swaying slowly, but otherwise it didn't seem to want to move anytime soon.

Ace crouched and moved his hand close to the cat, who looked at it for an instant before its eyes went back to Ace's face.

"You want something, don't you?" He whispered; no need for anyone around to hear him talking with an animal who supposedly couldn't understand him. He moved his hand to the cat's head and pet it after there was no sign of hostility. The purring that came right after wasn't surprising and made Ace smile.

"It's okay, you can tell me what it is." He looked around, but no one seemed to be paying attention to him. When his eyes went back to the cat, it was staring at him again. Ace moved his hand back and nodded.

As if it had only been waiting a further confirmation, it suddenly got up and started crossing the street, not caring about the people who had to sidestep it in the last moment. Ace shook his head with an amused smile; that was why he liked cats. They did what they wanted whenever they wished.

He decided to follow it – though being more careful with those around him - and soon found himself stopping close to another alley. The cat had entered it and, from his place still at the street, Ace could see it had company.

_So, it has a family, huh?_

Three kittens were looking at him with curiosity from their place next to a few empty cardboard boxes. It wasn't difficult to connect they were the offspring of the cat he followed, since they all had black fur coupled with a few gray spots over their faces.

Ace entered the alley, which people seemed to avoid, and crouched near them. If their mother –he thought it was a female, at least – had brought him here, then it must have felt Ace was safe enough to trust. It was probably because he was a mythical creature and closer to the animal than a human was, so it'd have a bigger chance of getting help.

 _Or maybe not._  Ace added mentally while he saw it interact with the kittens, soft meows sounding now and then _. I'm not even sure it's possible for it to have thought all that. Maybe it was just instinct? Or something…_

The cat turned back to him and meowed before sitting. The kittens did the same, but also had such an expectant look in their eyes that made Ace hesitate.  _What do they want, anyway?_

As if it had heard Ace's thought, the cat lowered its head and nudged with its nose something white resting on the ground. Upon a closer look, Ace noticed it was pointed and most likely hard. It almost seemed like a…

 _Broken fishbone?_  Ace frowned.  _Yeah, that seems to be it. But what-_

Sudden understanding appeared on his face. Of course, it wanted food. It should have been obvious, since it was stray and had three kittens to take care of.

"I think I can get you some fish, don't worry." Ace smiled before rising up. At least he had found something to do.

With one last look at the cat that promised he'd be back soon, he went to the street. Turning to the opposite way he had been going to, Ace started walking with a facade of leisure. His eyes went back to analyzing everything around him, this time searching for a good place with fish.

Just as he expected, he found one quickly. In front of a shop, there was a man beside a selling stall where many different types of fish were displayed. However, what made it the perfect place to get the fish was how the man seemed to be in a serious discussion with the woman at the other side of the stall – a frustrated client, probably. Some people had stopped to watch the scene unfold, as the man got impatient and tried to shoo the woman away.

Seeing that as the right time, Ace got closer to the stall and snatched three fish, hiding them inside one sleeve of his  _hakamashita_. To his luck, he was wearing one made of a dark hue of blue; otherwise wet spots would have given him away quickly.

 _Nami isn't the only one good at this._  Ace thought almost proudly. He had had a lot of practice in the past, after all.

Turning away from the stall, Ace made his way back to the alley, being careful to see if anyone had noticed what he did and was following him. He saw no one who seemed to care much about him, so he entered the alley.

What he saw almost made him let the fishes slid out of their hidden place. There, crouched beside the cat and the kittens, was a man. A blond man.

Now, Ace knew that there were humans with different characteristics besides the plain black hair and eyes – he had chosen his freckles and gray eyes when he created his human appearance because of that - but he had never seen one with blond hair that was wearing normal Japanese clothes.

Really, he seemed just like another man with a black  _hakamashita_  and a dark gray  _hakama_. Only, he had a strange blond hair and a weird hairstyle to top it off.

Oh, and there was the fact that he was right next to the cat and the kittens, and they didn't seem to mind his presence.

Ace frowned and cleared his throat. The reaction was immediate; the cat meowed happily while the man turned. Ace, once again, almost dropped the fishes.

 _He has freaking_ blue _eyes?! How much weirder can he get?_   _Maybe he's some immigrant's son that somehow grew up here? It's not impossible, since things have changed in Japan…_

"Who are you?" Ace asked approaching them. "And what are you doing with the cats?"

The man raised an eyebrow, but otherwise his bored expression didn't seem to change. "I was petting them, yoi." He said in a nonchalant voice – and was that a verbal tic? - before turning to one kitten who had been nudging his hand with its nose.

Ace frowned, noticing how the man ignored his first question. "How did you find them? This isn't an alley people would use to cross to the other street."

"I could ask you the same." The man kept his eyes on the kitten while he scratched behind one of its ears. "I haven't seen you here before."

"I only discovered them today when I followed the mother cat here." When the blond looked at him with a frown, Ace quickly added. "Hey, it looked like it wanted something, so I came to see what it was!"

"If you say so..."

"It's true!" Ace huffed annoyed. Why was he explaining himself to a human, to begin with? "I even got them some food because they looked hungry!"

At that, the man's expression finally changed, showing a bit of surprise. "You actually stopped to get food for stray cats?"

"Why shouldn't I?" Ace crouched next to the mother cat and let the three fish slide out of his sleeve. At once, the three small animals attacked the fresh food. Their mother shot at him what Ace thought was a grateful look, before joining the kittens in eating.

"It's not something most people would do, yoi." The man shrugged.

"Yeah, that's true." Ace knew very well how only a few humans cared about others that not themselves or their own. Of course, it also happened when it came to mythical creatures, though there was much less indifference between them. "But I saw no reason for me not to help. It was probably having difficulty getting food for the kittens today."

Ace saw, with the corner of his eye, the blond nodding. "This city isn't very generous with stray animals. From what I've seen so far, the sellers are really careful with their food, and the trash cans are usually well closed."

"You're not from here?"

"No, I'm only staying here for a while." The man didn't offer any further explanation, only kept looking at the cats with an unreadable expression. "Thanks for bringing them food. I still had to go get something for them today, so it'd be a while before they ate."

"Heh… You're welcome, I guess." Ace rolled his eyes mentally: what a strange person he had found.

It was then that something clicked in Ace's mind.  _He just said he's only staying here for a while, didn't he?_  Ace had to hold back a smirk.  _That means he's a_ traveler _. Just my luck!_

Ace knew he had promised Nami he'd lay low for a few days, but that didn't mean he couldn't choose a new target in the meanwhile. He had been thinking about that lonely widow woman that lived close to the edge of the city, but this one was much better. Travelers were always more interesting, and this one was even more. After all, it wasn't every day that he found a human with such different eye and hair color.

"Hey," Ace began, putting a small curious smile on his face. "I didn't get your na-"

Loud barking noises reached Ace's ears, making him snap his mouth shut in reflex. A shiver ran down his spine and his eyes widened.  _Shit!_

Ace's hands flew to his head just in time to hide his furry ears from view. He pressed them against his head and under strands of his hair, hoping immensely the man hadn't seen anything.  _Damn those dogs. Did they have to fucking appear now?_

Now that his control over his human form had wavered – he thoroughly cursed his slight fear of dogs. Couldn't they just disappear and let Ace live happy? -, he wouldn't be getting control over his it back soon.

A nervous chuckle left Ace's mouth when the man looked at him confused. "I-I'll be going now. It was nice meeting you." He started inching towards the opposite alley entrance he had come from. "So… I'll see you around! Bye!"

He had to hold himself not to run, but soon he was out on the street, getting farther and farther away from the mysterious blond man.

Only when he had his back against the wall of a house and was certain nobody was close to even getting on that secluded street, did he let his hands fall from his head. He sighed and slid until he was sitting.

_Well… It could have been worse. If my tails had appeared, then I wouldn't have had any chance of hiding them…_

Ace crossed his arms while his furry ears stirred, alert in case someone got close. He found it ridiculous how he lost control over his transformation when scared or startled. At least, there wasn't much that could do that to him, but dogs were still too common in cities.

"There's no way I can go back there now. Maybe if I find that man another day, I can still take him." Ace paused before rolling his eyes. "But that's gonna be difficult. He must think I'm weird, and he didn't show any obvious signs he found me attractive for some reason. Oh well, what a pity. He'd have made interesting prey."

He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. He had to relax for a while before being able to make his ears 'disappear' and put the human ones at the sides of his head.

Ace didn't know how long he stayed like that, only listening to the sounds of the city with the sun warming him. Sooner than he thought, his control was restored, and he did the necessary changes easily. A slight tingling on top of his head was the only sign of what he had done, and he rose with a satisfied smile.

 _I need to find something else to do for the rest of the day._  Ace thought absently while he went back to a busy street. It didn't take long before he was back to his state earlier that morning: bored and with no set path.

He stopped by a fruit stand and pretended to look at them with interest. Maybe he could buy one and try to think of something to do with it.

"Hey, did you hear the news from the next city?" Ace heard the man next to him say to a woman.

"No, did something happen?"

"I guess you could say that. Do you remember that famous exorcist we've heard about? The one who wears clothes with something written on the back?"

Ace stiffened and his attention focused on the conversation. An exorcist with a writing on his back. He knew who that man was. He had searched a lot about the existing exorcists in Japan, and the only one who had that characteristic was  _him_.

"Of course! What about him?"

"Apparently, he's in the next city doing some kind of job. And, I head there's a chance he's going to come here next!"

"Really?! That's great! But… Do you think he'd only come if there was something happening here?"

"I have no idea. Even if that ends up being the case, it's gonna be okay! I've heard he's really good at his job."

"I hope he's nice, but I've heard some rumors say he's somewhat bad-tempered."

"How strange. I heard the opposite…"

The rest of the conversation went unheard for Ace; he had gotten what he wanted.

A fierce smile grew on his face. He didn't know if his plan had anything to do with it, but if that man was close then everything was fine. Ace only had to make sure he'd hear about the rumor he was creating, and for that he would have to increase his number of prey.

Ace scanned the fruit in front of him with a satisfied smile he couldn't contain. Picking a random one, he turned to the seller. "Excuse me, sir. How much is this?"

Restlessness was bubbling again inside him, but this time he was fine with it. At least, now he knew he was definitely close to getting what he wanted.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing much to say here besides that I hope you'll enjoy this chapter :) I'll take a while to post the next one, and probably even longer the next one, but they'll come, don't worry!
> 
> Betaread by lunarshores.

_Important Words:_

_Youkai_ \- The name given to ghosts, phantoms, strange apparitions. They range from the malevolent to mischievous, and occasionally bring good fortune to those who encounter them.

 _Andon_  - A type of Japanese traditional lighting equipment. It's a lamp made by stretched paper over a frame of bamboo, and it stays on the ground when it's big sized.

 _Kingyo Sukui -_  It means Goldfish Scooping. It's a game, and it's explained during the chapter.

 _Poi_ \- Used in the  _Kingyo Sukui_. It's a round plastic frame with a hand grip, and thin paper on the frame.

* * *

Ace waited for two days before going back to searching for prey. Even with the anxiousness he felt at thinking about the exorcist being so close while he was doing nothing, a promise was a promise. He hadn't said to Nami how many days he was going to lay low, so two would have to suffice.

It wasn't like she seemed to mind it this time, anyway. When he found her looking for him the night before last, she seemed equally excited about the news. In fact, she had been planning to tell Ace about it before suggesting they go eat something special to commemorate. Of course, she still made him pay for their dinner, but since he was in a good mood he didn't mind for once.

Ace smiled softly at the memory. She might not show it, but Nami was also worried and wanted the plan to succeed as quickly as possible. She was, however, better at keeping a level head, which Ace had to admit had helped him a lot.

Rising from a bench with a heavy sigh, Ace started walking while looking at the people around him with sharp careful eyes. Simply attracting a traveler at night wouldn't be good enough this time, so he had to carefully choose his target from the residents of the city. It'd be bad if he was discovered too soon, but he still needed to make the rumor keep spreading.

"For some reason, this is harder than it should be." Ace passed a hand through his hair with a frown.

So far, the only people who passed were accompanied by others or in a hurry, and he'd prefer an easier target. He'd have to talk alone with his chosen prey to enthrall them, and for it to work, he couldn't be rushed.

 _The day I start again has to be a bad one, huh. Maybe walking around will get me a better result. Now, if I could only find that blond traveler. He'd be great…_  Ace sighed mentally. He couldn't search for him now, but maybe they would cross paths again and make things easier for Ace.

Luckily, it wasn't all that long before he finally found someone who fit what he needed. The woman didn't ask many questions, but seemed well aware of what was going to happen – or what  _she_ thought was going to happen. She took him to her house, and they chatted on the way, making it seem like they were friends to anyone who looked.

The pictures and male clothes in the woman's house showed she had a husband and a son, but neither was present. The place seemed well taken care of and used by more than one person, which excluded the possibility of them being dead.  _A cheating wife, then. Well, it's not my business._

Ace was quickly taken to her room, and she asked if he wanted anything to drink or eat. Ace had to avoid grimacing at the thought of human's food: only a few suited a  _Kitsune's_  taste, after all. Instead, Ace smiled charmingly and urged the woman to him in a subtle way. Despite his calm exterior, he knew very well he couldn't waste much time there. He had much to do, after all

Just as planned, Ace exited the house a while later, stomach already full.

"Makes me feel a bit bad knowing she's probably gonna die too." Ace murmured to himself while thinking of the sleeping woman. Then he shrugged. "Nah, I really don't feel guilty. It's her own fault for wanting it, anyway."

As soon as he was back on the street, Ace analyzed his surroundings; it wasn't so early anymore, so there was a lot more people outside. He started walking leisurely while humming a song, and observed with growing determination the men and women passing by him. He'd be quicker in finding new prey this time.

He was about to turn a corner, when a familiar smell reached his nose. A smile grew on his face, and he turned to greet the person, only to stop in surprise.

Like he expected, he saw Nami in her normal human form close to a human – probably her next target to pickpocket. The problem in the scene came when Ace focused on the human who, instead of being oblivious to Nami's tricks, was glaring at Nami and held one of her wrists in a grip. It took Ace one more second, but the realization he knew that man hit him like a tidal wave

_Dammit! Of all the people to catch Nami red-handed, it had to be the blond traveler?!_

The man seemed to be talking in a low tone, since no one was looking at them, while Nami was trying to pull her wrist free. From where he was, Ace couldn't see her expression, but he knew she was apprehensive. It wasn't every day she was caught about to steal from someone, after all.

Willing his shock down, Ace frowned and started walking towards them. He needed to think of a quick explanation to get Nami away from there and, if possible, still not lose the interesting prey.

However, before his mind could come up with something, Nami pulled her wrist free from the blond's grip and ran away in the opposite direction of where Ace was.

"Wait!" Ace shouted, only to realize a second later his mistake.

Instead of Nami turning, it was the traveler who did. The man's eyes looked around and, to Ace's dismay, locked right on him. Recognition shined in them, and Ace could almost see the gears in his head moving to make a connection between him and Nami.

Ace didn't wait to see what the man's reaction would be. He started running after Nami, trusting his sense of smell would help him even with so many people around. Only when he was on the outskirts of the city, almost in the forest, did he find her. Ace looked back and when sure he wasn't followed, he approached Nami.

She was grumbling to herself with crossed arms while leaning on a tree. Ace couldn't understand what she was saying, but he was sure she was cursing the blond traveler.

"That was close, huh?" He commented getting closer.

Nami startled, her wide eyes going to him. "Oh, it's you."

"You sound so excited to see me…"

"I thought you were someone else, that's all."

Ace sat on the ground near Nami with a heavy sigh. "You mean the blond traveler?"

"Traveler?" Nami finally turned fully to him with a confused look. Ace used the opportunity to search any possible injuries. As he expected, he found none, not even a red mark present on her wrist to show what had happened. "Wait, you saw that? And you know him?!"

"I only arrived shortly before you went away." Ace scratched his head. "And more or less. I only got to talk with him for a bit when we met."

Nami hummed in understanding while a frown formed on her face. "New prey?"

"Maybe? Either way, after two days ago and how he saw me calling after you today, it's gonna be somewhat difficult."

At Nami's raised eyebrow demanding an explanation, Ace told her about how he met the blond man. When he finished, she sighed in annoyance.

"He's definitely weird."

Ace blinked surprised. "You're not going to reprimand me?"

"Well, you  _are_  stupid for letting you guard low. If you had been careful, just hearing the dogs wouldn't have made you lose control over your form." Nami shook her head. "But that's not important, if he didn't see your ears. My problem is with that man in general."

"Because he caught you stealing from him? That's not so weird. I mean, you have a high success rate, but a human catching you is not impossible."

"No, but if I'm in his blind spot and still didn't pull the pouch from his pocket, then he shouldn't notice anything! He just… turned to me out of nowhere!" Nami huffed. She looked annoyed to the side and bit her lip soon after, seemingly to be lost in her thoughts.

Ace crossed his arms and closed his eyes. If Nami had been careful as she said, then it was uncommon for a human to notice her. Besides mythical creatures, there was only one type of humans that Ace could think that were remarkably good at it, but those were almost extinct nowadays.

"Yeah, that's a problem." Ace sighed. "If we consider he was born as a human, unless he's a ghost samurai, I don't know how he did it."

"He's not; other humans could see him. I'm not even sure he could be one of us. He seemed just like another human, disregarding his hair color." Nami stared at the ground. "Maybe he is a samurai… And I bet he was carrying a lot of money in that pocket! He got so angry when I tried to get that pouch!"

Ace snorted at Nami's last comment before adding. "But it's been a few decades since the edict prohibiting people from carrying swords. I thought by now all samurai were dead or locked in prison, since they didn't accept the loss of their weapons. Well, maybe he escaped, but then wouldn't he want to carry a sword? It's a samurai's pride, right?"

"That's what I've heard about them, which is why it makes no sense!" Nami groaned. "Be really careful if you're still planning on going after him."

"I will, don't worry." Ace rolled his eyes, smirking. "But why are you even worried about him? A human, even if a samurai, can't do anything to me. Most mythical creatures can't too."

"Even if that's true, this cocky attitude of yours is terrible. It only brings you trouble." Ace looked to the side, so Nami sighed. "Anyway, there's something different about him." Nami pursued her lips. "It's annoying that I can't figure out what exactly."

"Maybe he's cursed." Ace suggested while poking her, signaling for her to join him in the ground.

"Well, he definitely is with you going after him." Nami rolled her eyes playfully. Nonetheless, she sat down on one of the roots of the tree.

"Hey!"

With that, the tense atmosphere was broken, and they started laughing.

"No, but really. Don't worry about it, he's probably just a lucky human." Ace added after he stopped and got his breathing under control. Then another thought came to his mind and he sobered; the bubbling anxiousness had come back. "Talking about humans, did you hear any other news about the exorcist?"

A sigh left Nami's lips. "No, nothing. He still must be in the neighboring city, and will probably stay for a while longer. I heard some  _youkai_  were creating havoc over there, so he's gonna have some work to do."

Ace grumbled in frustration. "If it's gonna take awhile, then why can't we go there and make things quicker?"

"Because this city's location doesn't help us. I told you this before, weren't you listening?" When Ace didn't meet her eyes, Nami sighed. "Sometimes I wonder why I even bother."

"Because you're a really patient person who loves me!"

Ignoring Ace, Nami continued. "Like I said when you weren't paying attention, this city is mostly helpful to the cities close to it, not to Japan's economy in general. Adding to that, it's located high up in the mountains, making reaching here more difficult. With all that, the construction of the rail lines coming here haven't been finished, so people can only use the old roads, and that takes days."

"That's an obstacle for humans, not for us." Ace crossed his arms.

"Yes, but we're not that quick. If we go there, the exorcist might start his journey and we won't know to which city. If that happens, it's going to be a pain to find him again. If we attract him here, we can create a trap to help us." Nami stretched and rose up. "Right?"

"Yeah… But it's still frustrating how we have to stay still." Ace grimaced but also stood up.

"You've been doing it for a while now; you can survive a little bit longer."

"I guess so, but I need a distraction. I'll keep the rumor going, so the exorcist will definitely come, but these humans aren't interesting. I might try to search that blond traveler, after all…"

Nami only rolled her eyes while Ace chuckled.

"Then be a good succubus _Kitsune_  and go do your job." Nami made a shooing motion with her hands.

"Alright, alright. I'll see you at nigh-"

Ace interrupted himself when they both turned and saw a human gaping at them.

They stayed in silence for a second before the woman gave one step back. Her shoulders started trembling while her eyes widened with fear filling them.

"You heard our conversation, didn't you?" Ace passed a hand through his hair.

"I can't believe I lowered my guard like you." Nami grimaced. "What do we do with her?"

Ace hummed in thought. He analyzed the paralyzed woman in front of him before shaking his head. "It's a pity, but I don't think I can make her useful. She seems too scared to want anything to do with sex."

"Then we have to kill her and hide the body." Nami rolled her eyes. "Great. At least there's no one else close." By then, Nami's fluffy ears had appeared on top of her head, and her tails were swaying behind her.

Ace did the same and soon felt the relief of his natural ears and three tails appearing again. He concentrated for a moment on the sounds around them and confirmed that the closest humans weren't anywhere near them. At least they had chosen a mostly deserted street to talk, or it could have been worse.

"Let's not waste time." Ace started going forward, observing with mild-interest how the woman went back until she hit the wall of a house.

"W-wait! Please, don't kill me! I-I won't tell anyone what I heard! I promise! Please!"

Ace crossed his arms a few feet away from the begging woman. Did she really think they would believe in that?

When Nami joined him, Ace saw the terror growing in the woman's eyes. "Yo-you should be ashamed! Of-of thinking of k-killing an innocent person! Doesn't it-it bother you at all?!"

"It's pity for you, but we don't care about that.  _Kitsunes_  don't really follow human's morals, you know."

Ace smirked while Nami finished speaking.

Then they pounced.

* * *

Ace sighed and went to the side as two more kids passed by him running. He heard their mother yell a 'don't forget to be careful!' from somewhere behind him, and the children barely turned to shout back they knew it. Others of their age soon joined them, and their excited voices could be heard even from where Ace stood.

He rolled his eyes and watched idly while the kids' mother started talking with another woman, both wearing beautiful  _kimonos_. All around them, other people were dressed similarly with traditional clothes for the night, a rare sight nowadays since more humans started adopting the western-style garments.

It wasn't common for this small city, from what Ace had gathered, but once in a while they held a festival to commemorate their good fortune and to thank some god. During the day, some humans were in charge of organizing the decorations while the merchants set up their stalls in key points. At night, everyone went to the streets to celebrate.

Ace didn't mind these festivals much; they were lively, with all the paper and bamboo lamps distributed around illuminating the streets, and he always got a nice snack with so many humans around. He only disliked how this festival occupied the road that went to the temple completely; that rendered his habitual plan of getting a traveler useless.

_I guess I don't need that place to find prey tonight. There are so many possibilities around here that I don't even know where to start. I just need to find one who will take me to their home because with the streets so busy like this…_

Ace started walking around trying to decide what he should do. This day had been quite productive for his plan, so he didn't feel the need to hurry. He might as well enjoy the night and laugh at a few humans for a while before finding a new prey.

_I wonder what Nami is doing… At least with her, I'd have company to do something. Oh well, maybe I'll see her around sometime._

Since he was distracted by his thoughts, Ace didn't see where he was going to and almost bumped into a kid, who completely ignored him and kept walking. Ace frowned at her and watched her go to two friends who were surrounding a big  _andon._  They were looking with wonder at the shadows the flame inside it created on the paper. One of the boys started poking one of the bamboo stalks, saying to his friends that he was going to open it.

Ace smirked and moved one of his index fingers in a subtle circular motion. As he wanted, the flame inside the  _andon_  accompanied the movement and wavered in a sharp way. The children's amazed gasp and the boy jumping away were expected, but still made Ace chuckle.

He played with the flames from afar for a while longer, making it dance and entertain the children with its shadows. However, when more kids gathered around it, he stopped. No need to bring too much attention to himself.

The kids started leaving soon after, disappointed that nothing else was going to happen. Ace followed some with his eyes – they weren't so bad when they didn't almost run over him - before something blond caught his eyes.

Ace smirked, satisfied; he found what he needed to kill his boredom.

The blond traveler was leaning against a large tree watching with a soft smile as some women and men danced with the music in the background. He had his arms crossed and a laid-back posture, seeming to be at ease.

"He's really handsome, huh. I chose well this time." Ace whispered to himself with a smirk after he checked the man. Then he frowned. "He won't be very happy to see me after that thing with Nami a few days ago. Maybe he won't remember me…?"

The blond leaned down to get something, and only then Ace noticed there was a small uncorked bottle of sake by the blond's feet. Ace's eyes followed the man's movements as he brought it to his lips and took a long sip. After that, he put it down once again, licked his lips and went back to watching the dance.

_Oh, I'm going there, even if he remembers me. It's only my luck the attractive ones aren't always the easiest humans to fool, so I won't lose my change to get this man. Besides, he drank a bit, so that might be in my favor._

With this set in his mind, Ace strolled until he was close to the tree. He put on a friendly smile and greeted the man, ready to strike a conversation. The blond turned to look at him and his dropped eyes narrowed. He didn't say anything.

… _he definitely remembers me…_

"So, I… wanted to apologize for the other day." Ace hesitated for a second; he needed to say something that would make the man want to talk with him. An idea popped up in his mind. "I saw what my friend was doing, and I wanted to apologize for it." Ace bowed his head, but the blond's expression hadn't changed when he looked back up.

"And why are you the one doing it instead of your thief friend?" The man questioned.

Ace grimaced and scratched his head. "She's not feeling very well today, so she didn't come to the festival. Since I saw you, I decided to do it for her."  _I hope Nami never discovers about this._ "You see, my friend has a compulsive habit to steal money whenever she can. We've been traveling together for a while, and our money is starting to end, so I guess that only makes it worse."

Then, with an expression Ace hoped showed he was sorry, he bowed once again. "I'm deeply sorry for what happened. Really."

When Ace looked at the blond again, he seemed to be analyzing him with a thoughtful expression. After a while, the man sighed. "Alright. She didn't get anything, so no harm done." One of the man's hands hovered over one of the pockets of his pants, probably the place where the pouch with money Nami almost stole was in. Ace wondered if this was the man's way to see if he would try to do something too. "Just make sure to look out for her so this won't happen again."

"Right. Thank you." Ace grinned. "I still don't know your name. I'm Ace."

"Marco." Marco nodded.

"So, Marco, you said you were a traveler, right? What do you think about the festival?"

"It's not different from others I've seen, but it's still nice." Marco had turned his eyes back to the dance while he spoke. "People were quite excited for it, yoi."

Ace hummed in agreement, trying to hide his satisfied grin. Marco seemed willing to talk, so Ace would use the opportunity well. No need to hurry and lose his interesting prey.

"That's true. It was impossible to walk around during the day without seeing someone preparing something for the festival or talking about it." Ace rolled his eyes. "The kids are loving it, that's for sure. I've almost been run over by them a few times."

"Tell me about it." Marco snorted. "The stalls with games are all spread out, so seeing them running is to be expected."

"Games?" Ace frowned. He didn't remember any from when he was walking around.

"Yeah, didn't you see them? They're pretty popular, yoi."

Ace only shrugged. He knew that what he and humans considered games were different from each other, but did Marco mean those silly boxes filled with water that held floating objects? Either way, he didn't care about those so called games.

Marco turned to him with a curious look, and Ace realized he probably hadn't seen him shrug. Ace opened his mouth to answer, but Marco beat him to it.

"Hey, you said you were traveling too, right? How long are you staying here?"

Ace blinked surprised at the unexpected question. "I'm not sure. Probably not much longer, but we don't have an exact date to go away. What about you?"

"Something along those lines." Marco seemed in thought while analyzing Ace once again. Ace avoided the urge to fidget; something in those unusual blue eyes staring at him made him nervous. They hadn't been talking for long, and Ace knew he didn't say anything that could be taken wrong - he had plenty of experience and knew how to control that - so what was the reason for that look? Was he being judged?

He waited for Marco to say something, but after a while of silence, he sighed in exasperation inside his head.  _Just when I managed to make him talk. This is going to be harder than I thought._

Ace smiled brightly and tilted his head. "Do you want to find one of those stalls then? I didn't see them, but there might be something fun to do… We're like tourists here, so we should enjoy what we can of the festival! Besides, it's not always I get the chance of having such a handsome companion for myself."

Whatever Ace expected for an answer, it wasn't Marco chuckling. Ace controlled his surprise and annoyance – was he being mocked? - by distracting himself with thoughts of how Marco was even more appealing when laughing.

"I'll have to agree with you, yoi. Let's go?" Marco smiled amused.

Ace grinned back. "Sure."

Marco leaned down to get the bottle of sake and they moved to the next garbage can. He took a long sip on the way, and Ace watched shamelessly as he licked the few drops that trickled from the corner of his mouth. Marco turned to Ace after he threw away the bottle, and Ace kept looking at his mouth for one more second before moving his gaze to the blue eyes.

"Do you know where any of those game stalls are?" Ace asked, smiling as if nothing out of ordinary had happened. He knew Marco had noticed him stare, since he raised one of his eyebrows, but Ace took it as a positive sign when he didn't appear bothered.

"I think I saw a  _Kingyo Sukui_  stall close to here, so we can start by there." Marco suggested and led the way.

Ace started a small talk about the first thing that came to his mind, which happened to be the dancers they passed by. Marco was easier to talk with than Ace first thought, and the conversation flowed so well that Ace was encouraged. It was still early, meaning the festival would last for a long while, and Ace had plenty of time. The night was looking promising.

Marco suddenly stopped at the end of a small line leading to a stall. Ace noticed the small plastic pool filled with water and sighed internally. He had been hoping it'd be something different, but it ended up being a water game. The only difference in this one was how it had goldfishes swimming through it instead of floating objects.

Ace stared at the pool with a frown, trying to figure out why humans thought it was a fun game. There were some kids waiting in the line as well as a young couple and a few adults, so it looked like age didn't matter much.

"You never played it before, right?" Marco's voice snapped him back from his thoughts.

"No." Ace shook his head. "How do you play it?"

"It's simple. You get a  _poi_  and have to scoop as many fishes as you can from the water."

"Seems easy." Ace raised his eyebrows. What was the purpose of such a game?

Marco smirked and chuckled, a perfect expression that showed he knew something Ace didn't. "You shouldn't judge something based on what it looks like."

Ace rolled his eyes exasperated; he liked the smirk on Marco's face, but a human acting as if he knew more than him was ridiculous. Ace decided to change the subject and was thankful Marco didn't comment anything about it.

Their turn arrived soon, and Ace copied Marco's action in kneeling beside the plastic pool, making sure to brush Marco's shoulder briefly with his own. Ace pretended not to notice when Marco glanced at him before paying the owner of the stall. Marco received a bowl with water and a round plastic object with a thin paper on the frame, and offered both to Ace.

"Now you get a fish with this scooper and put it in the bowl." He explained.

Ace nodded and turned to the pool. He chose a fish and used his keen eyesight to watch it without difficulty. He quickly moved the scooper underwater and got it. With a satisfied smirk, he pulled it from the water, only for his smile disappear as the right side of the paper tore and the fish fell back in the water.

"You've got to be kidding me." He murmured indignant.

A chuckle coming from his side made him turn and glare at Marco. He wasn't even trying to hide his mirth, looking at Ace with crossed arms.

"So? It's not completely torn, you can keep trying."

Ace huffed and his attention went back to the pool. One more try and another fish fell back to the water with another part of the paper being torn. By then, Ace was openly glaring at the object in his hand, which seemed to make it even funnier for Marco.

Ace took a deep breath; he wasn't going to lose to a stupid human game. He would get one fish, and then they'd get as far as possible from that stall.

He took a while longer to find a fish who wasn't as surrounded by others before lowering his hand until the scoop was close to the water. Ace only started moving when the fish got close enough, but before he could strike, another hand held his in a firm grip and guided his movements. Only the part of the  _poi_  that still had paper was lowered, and, in a swift move, it snagged a goldfish. Ace moved the bowl close to the scoop, and the fish was dropped into it gently.

Ace ignored the owner of the stall congratulating him and getting the bowl from his hand, instead turning to look at Marco. He had the same smirk on his face and held Ace's hand for one more second before releasing it.

"It's an easy game, right?"

The teasing tone wasn't lost on Ace, who huffed in response. He watched with growing frustration Marco say something to the owner of the stall. Ace couldn't figure out what Marco was thinking, and that annoyed him. At first, he hadn't seemed the least bit interested, but now he did. Ace praised himself in being good at reading humans, but Marco was a bit difficult for his liking.

The owner of the stall laughed and gave Marco a small glass container filled with water with the goldfish inside. He thanked the man, and they both left the stall quickly, not wanting to delay the people waiting at the line.

"Here's your prize for the game." Marco smiled while offering the container to Ace.

"Heh, I guess I need to thank you for that." Ace rolled his eyes, but accepted it nonetheless.

"What should we do now? Search for another game?" Ace frowned, making Marco chuckle. "I guess not."

Ace stopped and put a hand on his chin. "What about… The music presentation? By now, the dancers must have finished, so it's going to start soon."

Marco nodded. "Sounds good to me. I've heard many people talking about it, so it's probably good."

"With a good companion, even if it was boring, it'd turn interesting." Ace smirked.

Marco rolled his eyes. "You're quite straightforward, aren't you?"

"I guess I am. Why, does it bother you?"

"No, I don't mind." An amused smirk grew on Marco's face.

"That's good." Ace put on his charming smile before tugging slightly on Marco's  _hakamashita_. "Come on, it's this way."

The rest of the night passed on smoothly and looking even more promising to Ace. During the presentation, he kept a small conversation with Marco, and used the time they stayed in silence to lean on him. Just as he expected, Marco didn't seem to mind and even flirted back. By the time it finished and the crowd watching the presentation dispersed, Ace was sure he'd get his last snack of the day. What he needed now was the right time to act.

Marco suggested they go buy something to eat, and Ace had to pretend not being hungry while hiding his disgust at the fried squid on a stick. Instead, he concentrated on the people around them, noticing with satisfaction how the sleepy kids were finding their parents and most were going home.

Ace led Marco on an aimless walk through the streets for a while longer until he finished eating. When he did and threw away the stick, Ace sighed in relief inside his mind before putting a hand on Marco's shoulder to get his attention.

"The festival is ending now, so I guess I should get going." Ace let his hand fall before grinning. "Unless you have anything in mind for us to do." With all the flirtation through the night and the innuendo in his voice, he was sure Marco would get the meaning behind his words.

Not disappointing, Marco smirked at him. "I suppose I have. You know, Ace…" He held the back of Ace's hand in a soft grip. "You're interesting, and I like it." Marco leaned in, and Ace felt a shiver go down his spine.

Marco's breath reached his ear before his hand brushed Ace's face briefly. "But, you know… I'm harder to convince than this. You've got to try harder."

When Marco leaned back, a smirk was clear on his face. Then, with a wave and a bid of goodnight, he left.

Ace blinked surprised at the figure walking leisurely away from him. For a few seconds he stood there, trying to process what he had heard. It definitely wasn't what he'd wanted, but if it got him a future satisfying snack and some fun with a good chase in the meantime, then what was the problem?

A smirk appeared on his face.

"And the game begins."


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I'm finally back with another chapter ^-^ I know it took me a long time to finish this one, but life has been complicated these past few months and I only managed to finish it and be satisfied with what I wrote around now. This chapter was betaread by lunarshores. Thank you once again :D Now, on to the chapter!

_Important Words:_

_Miko -_ Shinto term. Name given to a shrine maiden or a supplementary priestess who was once likely seen as a shaman.

_Haori -_ A hip or thigh-length kimono-like jacket, which adds formality to an outfit.  _Haori_ were originally worn only by men, until it became a fashion for women in the Meiji period.

_Tsukimono_ \- It's a mix of the term  _tsuki_ , which means 'possession', and  _mono_ , which means 'thing'. Although they are collectively known by the same name, different types of  _tsukimono_ use – _tsuki_ as a suffix, such as  _kappa-tsuki_ ,  _tengu-tsuki_  or  _kitsune-tsuki_.

* * *

_Ace looked at his human reflection on the river with a frown. A few droplets of water were sliding down his wet face to his chin, where they rested for a few seconds before falling randomly and disrupting the calm surface of the river. Ace turned his attention to the side, making sure to observe his surroundings with caution while he tried to catch any suspicious sound. However, besides the soft noise of the water, the forest around him was the same as always._

_That's what frustrated Ace to no end. Nothing around him gave an explanation as to why he was feeling so restless, which only made him feel worse._

_Dissatisfied, Ace passed a hand on his face and shook it above the river, getting rid of the last drops of water. He had been sleeping a while before, but he couldn't blame this feeling on his sleepiness anymore, since he was wide awake and his senses were working well. Getting up with a sigh, Ace decided it was better to head back and do his best at ignoring this feeling._

_Ace looked one more time to the river before shaking his head, exasperated at himself. He stopped by a tree and made his Kitsune ears appear, trying to remember which way he had come from. A weird soft noise drew his attention, making him turn his head to the side. He felt a prickle on the back of his neck, and in the next second he threw himself to the right, hissing when he felt something sharp cut through the air by his left cheek._

_Ace put one finger on the place, frowning at how he felt it stinging, before taking it away and noticing with surprise a bit of blood on it. His posture turned defensive, and he growled at the direction whatever had hurt him had come from, his tails and claws now mingling with his human features. He tried to look with the corner of his eye at what had cut him, and when he identified the object stuck on the tree, his breath caught on his throat._

_A blessed dagger._

_Ace narrowed his eyes and took a few steps away from it, apprehension starting to course through him. He could feel the awful vibe coming from that dagger even from afar, concentrated especially around the few_ kanji _on the handle, just like the rumors he'd heard of blessed weapons had said. It was his first time seeing one, though, and it was just his luck that it belonged to someone who wasn't friendly._

_He turned in the direction the dagger had come from only to see dozens of strange papers flying fast towards him. Ace raised his clawed hands and destroyed most, but when a few escaped and hit him, he had to jump to the side, already feeling the draining effect they had created. The others still coming didn't change directions and flew until they encountered a tree, then proceeded to fall uselessly to the ground._

_Ace ripped the few papers from his body, noticing how they had the same_ kanji  _written on them. So it's an exorcist, huh. Figures, they never give up on chasing us. Although he mocked them on his mind, Ace couldn't help but keep tense when he noticed that the dagger was missing from the tree, not having seen when it had been taken out, before snorting. He might be facing a dangerous weapon for him, but while it was in the hands of a measly human, Ace could take care of it even after a bit drained._

_Ace's ears twitched at a noise coming from his left, and he turned just in time to see a man clad in black and red run to him, dagger held by one hand. Ace smirked and didn't waste a second before lunging towards him, evading the first attack and readying his claws to strike._

_The next few minutes were hazy on Ace's mind. He remembered he had the upper hand due to his speed, but the well-aimed hits and cuts from the exorcist got him by surprise. After a while with blurs of mixed red, black and green, Ace found himself lying on the ground, many scratches littering his arms and a stinging pain coming from another cut on his cheek and a deep one on his side._

_The exorcist approached him as he talked about something, but Ace didn't care enough to listen. Or maybe he did, since he knew he felt rage fill him as the other's mouth moved, but he couldn't remember much from that time. For some reason, his head was spinning, and Ace could only curse the blasted dagger the man had._

_It was then that he heard his name being yelled, and through the pain, he felt panic as he saw figures reach him and the exorcist. He wanted to tell them to go away, but his voice didn't seem to want to work. The exorcist turned away from him, giving Ace a blurry view of a big_ kanji _written on the back of his clothes for a moment, before he moved and a new fight seemed to start._

_Ace couldn't see much since the blurs were moving too fast, so he blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes, wanting to understand what was happening. He knew he had to find a way to get up and help them, or at least warn about the blessed dagger, but his limbs weren't cooperating. Ace wondered idly if the weapon could have possibly been poisoned, but his weakness could have been because of the blood he could feel sipping from him and the damned strange papers._

_It took him a few minutes to manage to sit up and clear his sight, and by then the noises of the fight had faded out. At first, he only saw broken tree trunks and branches, but then he spotted them._

_Patches of grass stained in red._

_Ace's eyes widened and he swallowed thickly, heart starting to beat quicker as an awful sense of dread grew inside him. He wanted to turn away, but his eyes were glued to the blood spread on the ground. There was too much for it to be from a simple, harmless wound, and as much as he tried, he couldn't discern who it was from._

_Ace started feeling sick, and it was only then that he managed to look somewhere else. He took a deep breath and moved one hand to the cut on his side, remembering there was blood flowing through it. He leaned against the closest tree and struggled to get up, only turning back to the stains when he succeeded. He slowly followed the path they created, scrunching his nose at the smell, until he spotted something different and froze, a piercing cold feeling washing over him._

_From the new angle, he could see them, clothes turning a darker shade in many spots as they lay in a puddle of blood. Arms were stretched in Ace's direction, almost as if trying to reach him, and faces twisted in an expression of pain, unseeing eyes seeming to stare right at Ace._

_Ace shook his head in disbelief and tried to move back only to fail, his legs not cooperating and leaving him paralyzed and staring at the scene. He tried swallowing the lump that had formed in his throat, tried ignoring the sudden wetness on his eyes and the trembling of his limbs, but as he took a shaky breath, and the sick smell of blood reached him in full force once again, he couldn't hold it in anymore._

_The leaves shook as he roared his despair to the uncaring sky._

* * *

Ace woke up with a start and bolted upright, heart racing and gasping for air as one of his hands fisted the cloth around his chest in an automatic response. His blurred eyes looked around wildly as he panted, trying to make sense of where he was and what had happened through the haze of panic that had his senses prickling.

Remembrance came to Ace in the next second, and he scowled at the sky while lying down, rubbing his cheeks and eyes before covering them with his arms. "Fuck it. I didn't need that."

Ace took a few shaky breaths with closed eyes and concentrated on hearing the bustle of the city, trying to calm himself down with the now normal sounds to him. His furry ears twitched uncomfortably at the noise from nearby shops he was starting to hear over the heavy sound of his own breathing and still quick heartbeats; even annoying, he preferred to endure it now than to go to the calm forest. It'd only make him feel worse in the state he was in.

After a few minutes, Ace deemed he had his feelings and senses under enough control, so he sat up and opened his eyes. He noticed at once that besides his ears, his three tails had come out while he slept in his human form, as well as a bit of fur on his wrists and arms, but this didn't bother him. He couldn't bring himself to worry at the moment if someone had seen him, but given his place in the middle of a roof, he doubted there was any possibility.

Ace ran a hand through his hair before his lips curled down in distaste. It wasn't the first time he had had this damn nightmare, but given that it was mixed with his memories of that day, it still left a sour feeling behind. Even now, when he was awake, he could remember the details so vividly; the big quantity of blood staining the grass, the sickening smell that reached his nose, the unseeing eyes staring right at him-

Ace squeezed his eyes shut and suppressed a shudder, wishing the images on his mind would just go away. He was being stupid worrying about it so much, and he knew it very well. That wasn't real, it was just a stupid nightmare his uncertainty had created. There had been no bodies and definitely less blood splashed around. He shouldn't think about the possibilities of that fight until he confronted the exorcist.

He breathed deeply twice and opened his eyes again.  _I wonder if Nami also has dreams like this plaguing her_. Ace thought bitterly before running his hand through his hair.  _I really need to stop this, or I'm going to drive myself crazy with all this waiting. Maybe I should go run on the forest to spend some of this leftover energy…_

Satisfied with his idea, Ace got up and stretched, taking his time to take a few more deep breaths while he ignored how his anxiety returned. He was certain that there'd be no problem if he took the day to relax and didn't search for prey, so he wasn't worried about that; the rumors were going wild around the town, and they wouldn't disappear in just one day. Besides, he had so much energy left because of how frequently he was eating, that he had to stay in his human form all the time to try to spend it, so he missed his fox appearance. It'd be worth going to the forest, Ace concluded.

He closed his eyes and concentrated for a few seconds, feeling his natural features disappearing whist fake human ones replaced them. He frowned in displeasure, hating the fact that he had to hide his true appearance, but took comfort in the fact that in a few minutes that'd change.

Ace went to the edge of the roof and nimbly jumped down, falling on the empty alleyway hidden from the sun and going to the busy street to his left. The humans walking around him didn't take notice of someone else joining them from a strange place, so Ace was left to his thoughts while he walked in the direction to the closest edge of the city.

The mid-morning sun felt comfortable on his skin and helped Ace get rid of what was left of sleep on him. He was still tired, but he wasn't planning on going back to sleep anytime soon, so this was good for him. He only hoped Nami wouldn't see him before he managed to run for a while. It wasn't like she didn't already know something was happening – Ace knew Nami for long enough to recognize her discreet pondering glances -, but he knew this wasn't something she needed to worry about. It'd be over soon, and until then he could deal with a few annoying nightmares.

Ace was taken out of his reverie when he bumped onto an old woman, making her drop the bag she had been carrying. A tired sigh left her lips before she glared at him, reminding Ace he was the one to blame in this situation.

"I'm deeply sorry for this, ma'am." He bowed before kneeling to start gathering the fallen objects and a wrapped fish to put inside the bad, but he didn't have enough time to finish before the old woman started ranting. Ace held in an exasperated snort – he'd known this was coming - and tuned her out after a few words, nodding and trying to make an apologetic face during the whole time.

It wasn't long before Ace was looking around the ground to make sure he had gotten everything before he got up and gave the bag to the woman with one more apology.

"You should be more careful next time! If I was holding something that could break, you'd have some serious problems, young man!" The old woman got her bag, annoyance written on her face though something else shined in her eyes. Ace's mind didn't have enough time to discover what it was before it was gone. "At least you had the decency to help me, though you look completely awful. What's with those clothes? You shouldn't go out of your home when you're not presentable!"

Ace's eyebrows rose in confusion before turning to a clear window close by, seeing the inside of a shop briefly before focusing on his transparent reflection. Tired eyes, tousled hair with a twig stuck in a knot and wrinkled clothes greeted him, making Ace frown. He didn't think he looked as bad as the old woman made it seem, but it was still good that he didn't intend to get any prey today since he was sure his appearance wouldn't help him in it.

Intrusive hands suddenly reached to his head and tangled themselves in his hair, fingers maneuvering through strands as they combed it and took the twig away.  _Wait, what?_  Ace's mind took a second to figure out the woman was trying to make him 'presentable' by herself. It was easy to see amusement in her eyes now, and Ace felt annoyance take over him. He tried to pry her away, only to make her move her attention to his  _hakamashita_ , doing her best to straighten it while avoiding Ace's hands trying to get her away.

The old woman finally took a step back, nodding in acceptance, and Ace had to shove down his desire to use his claws on her. Who did this human think she was to start doing that with him? _What a weird woman._

"It's a pity I can't do anything about your eyes. You should sleep more." She added, making Ace huff. With the impending arrival of the exorcist, his mind hadn't been leaving him alone for long enough, which coupled with all the energy he now had, prevented him from sleeping well. It was a wonder he had managed to nap for a bit on that roof, so 'sleeping more' wasn't going to happen.

The old woman looked him over one more time before repeating what she said before once again and going away as if nothing out of ordinary had happened. Ace sent a glare at her back and at anyone close by who he spotted chuckling at the scene. With another huff and wanting nothing more than to reach the forest and morph into his  _Kitsune_  form, Ace started walking again.

"What, already going away? You seemed to be having so much fun…"

Ace stopped at the familiar voice and, suppressing a frustrated groan, turned to his left, spotting with easy the speaker sitting on a bench. With an amused grin on his face, Marco supported what seemed to be a small piece of wood on his lap and waved at him, a clear invitation for Ace to come closer.

_Of course it couldn't be someone I could ignore._  He sighed inside his mind. It'd do him no good to keep going and possibly get Marco annoyed at him – he wasn't about to throw away his effort in seducing Marco in these last few days just because he wasn't in a good mood -, so he had no other choice but to stay.

"Why don't you try having someone suddenly start 'fixing' you then? I'm sure you'll love it." Ace rolled his eyes, but started walking towards Marco nonetheless.

He saw with mild surprise that the bench was located at the end of the small park of the city, not having noticed before that he had been walking by it. From what Ace could see, Marco's position gave him perfect view of where Ace had been stopped by the old woman a few minutes ago, so it was no wonder he had seen what happened.

"Don't be like that, yoi. I'm sure she only meant good by that." Marco added with a chuckle, and Ace couldn't help a small smile from appearing at his face at the attractive sound.

"If you say so."

Marco sent Ace another amused smile before patting the space on the bench beside him. Ace hesitated for only a moment before giving in and going to sit there, turning to look curiously at the piece of wood Marco picked up again. There was almost no bark anymore, which coupled with its strange format and irregular parts made Ace realize it was being carved.

"You carve wood?" The question escaped Ace before he could stop it.

Marco made an affirmative noise and turned the wood around his hand, a strange look passing by his face and going away before Ace could identify it. "I need money to live and keep traveling, so selling crafted wood is my best option considering I never stay too long anywhere. It's not much, but I receive a sum good enough to keep going."

"You're good at it," Ace commented while analyzing the barely visible details that were starting to appear.  _Seems like a crouched animal…_

"Thanks." A content smile grew on Marco's face just before he turned back to Ace.

Ace couldn't help but return the smile, albeit with less enthusiasm, when he spotted the sincerity floating in those blue eyes. Marco was a curious person. Sometimes it was easy to identify what he was feeling, but during other times it was nearly impossible, which considering Ace's experience in reading human's expressions was frustrating and interesting at the same time. Every time Ace saw Marco, he couldn't help but think again of how he had made a good choice in choosing him. It was just a pity Marco would end up dead not much longer from then; he was a fun company, Ace had to admit.

Ace almost frowned outwardly when he realized the path his thoughts were taking. What was with him and almost feeling sympathy for a human?

"And what about you?"

"Huh?" Ace looked at him in confusion, noting belatedly that Marco had been speaking something that he hadn't heard.

Marco only raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem bothered by his distraction. "I was asking what you do, since you said you're also a traveler."

"Oh." Ace cursed himself in his mind. He couldn't afford to not pay attention and risk losing part of the progress he had made so far by getting Marco upset with him. Especially considering they were playing a game, Ace had to make sure he showed he was still interested unless he wanted all his efforts to be in vain.

And yet, even at the remembrance of their game, Ace couldn't bring himself to play his part now.

Fiddling with the tip of his sleeve, Ace answered the first thing that came to his mind. "I fish."

"Fish, yoi?" Marco's surprised tone almost made Ace cringe. Okay, so maybe he should have thought of a better answer.

"Yeah! You know, people eat a lot of fish, so I try to go to cities with lakes and rivers where I can get some and sell to any merchant interested. My friend helps me too, though she prefers to deal more with the selling part and, yeah." Ace rubbed his neck with a small grin as he realized he was starting to rant. As much as he disliked admitting it, he was still feeling restless; his nerves were too on edge.

"I see." Marco chuckled, and Ace's smile turned sheepish. It was clear Marco had noticed his babbling.

Ace opened his mouth to continue the conversation somehow – since he was stuck there for a while, he might as well turn the time productive -, when a loud meow sounded from close and startled him. Looking down he was met with one pair of big brown eyes staring at him from in front of his legs with two others almost hidden under the bench doing the same. The black fur with grey patches on the face accompanying the eyes was what made a memory from days ago come to the front of his mind.

"Wait. Are you the mother cat from the alley?" Ace asked, with his brow furrowed, the bigger cat. The simple meow he received as an answer wasn't a surprise.

"She is," Ace could hear the amusement in Marco's voice without having to look at his face. When he turned to him, he found Marco petting a third kitten that was now resting on his lap and purring satisfied. Just like when Ace first saw Marco, he seemed to get along well with the cats.

"Heh, didn't expect to see them again." One of the other two kittens came out of its hidden place and nudged his leg. Ace bent down enough to rest his hand on its head before passing his fingers through its fur and close to its ear. The soft purr in answer made Ace smile.

"They were sleeping under this bench when I arrived. Must have woken up with our voices." Marco added, and Ace saw him follow the mother cat's movement to the next tree, where she lied down and seemed to go to sleep again.

_Hmm, seems like she trusts us with her kittens._

"You get along well with them." Ace commented absentmindedly.

Marco chuckled. "Well, they've kept me company ever since I arrived at this city, so I got used to having them around."

"So you guys go out a lot together?" Ace grinned cheekily at him.

"Oh, all the time," Marco rolled his eyes. "We're best friends, yoi."

Ace laughed lightly as an image of Marco going around the city with four cats following him entered his mind. "You must have a lot of fun."

"They don't talk a lot, so I can say I have many moments of peace and quiet." As if on cue, the kitten on his lap meowed and pawed at his sleeve, trying to get his attention back. "Well, maybe not many."

Ace shook his head, but couldn't control the smile on his face from growing at the interaction between Marco and the animals. It was quite cute, in a way.

Then a sudden thought entered his mind. Could the still in progress carved wood be a cat? When he tried asking Marco, he only received a smile in answer.

"And talking about carving wood," Marco started and rescued the unfinished cat from under the kitten. He put it in one of his  _hakama's_  pockets and retrieved what seemed to be an intact piece of wood a bit bigger than the other one. "I want to ask you a favor."

"A favor?" Ace raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I'd like for you to pose for me."

Whatever Ace had been expecting Marco to ask, it wasn't that. "What?"

"No, you aren't hearing things, yoi." His reaction seemed to amuse Marco. "I want to carve a person next, but some details are complicated to replicate without looking at them. If I have someone pose for me, it's easier."

Ace hummed in understanding before shrugging. "Well, why not? Sure, I can do it." He raised an eyebrow and waved one finger in Marco's direction. "You better not mess with my figure."

"Don't worry, I'll do my best to do your pretty face justice." Marco smirked.

"Very well." Ace tried to keep a serious face, but after a few seconds he started laughing, Marco accompanying him. Then a sudden realization came to Ace, and he stopped slowly.

During the whole conversation, he couldn't say he had been flirting, and yet, it was a pleasurable one. Heck, he had even laughed! It was strange, if he stopped to think about it. He wasn't feeling as bad as before, his restlessness seeming to give up on pestering him for a while, and though he couldn't say he was completely fine, he was… lighter, in a way.

Ace wanted to snort at the mere thought of prey helping in making him relax through something else that not sex.

He opened his mouth, though to say what he wasn't sure, when a strong wind passed by them, blowing Ace's hair into his face and almost taking Marco's piece of wood as the other kitten jumped on his lap with a loud meow. It lasted for a few seconds before turning into a breeze, the ruffling of the leaves of the trees nearby the only sound between them for a while.

"What was that, yoi? A storm is coming or what?" Marco put the wood inside his pocket before passing his hands softly on the kittens' head. He looked to the sky and frowned, his dropped eyes narrowing a bit more.

Ace also looked up, noticing the dark clouds moving and getting lowly in front of the already covered sun. Uneasiness grew inside of him; there was something wrong. "Yeah, seems like one. It's going to get dark and rain very soon."

"I think I can sneak them in with me today." Marco commented and Ace noticed he seemed absent minded. "You should go to wherever you're staying too."

"Yeah…" Ace looked at the sky one more time before glancing at the swinging leaves. His eyes widened, and he stiffened. "I'll be going then. I'll see you another day, and I promise to pose then. Bye!" He flashed Marco one of his common flirting grins, although a bit tense, and barely saw the confused frown he received in answer. He waved goodbye and ran down the street in the direction of the forest without another word.

Ace almost bumped into many humans in his hurry, but he didn't stop like he'd normally do. Storms usually came with strong winds, so there was nothing wrong with that, but he knew they didn't just disappear and turn into breezes. Ace only knew one creature who could make that happen and was in that city, and with the building storm coming and the wind picking up naturally, that had been the only warning he could get that wouldn't be mistaken with the wind from now. He didn't have time to waste.

_I wonder what Nami wants. She never uses her wind like this unless it's a serious matter that can't wait._ Trying not to think if it could mean the exorcist somehow was too close or anything of the sorts, Ace concentrated on running as fast as he could, growling occasionally when his hair was thrown into his face every few seconds and blocked his view.

In a few more minutes, he passed the outskirts of the city and entered the forest, immediately sniffing and trusting his sense of smell would help him find Nami quicker. He was about to change into his  _Kitsune_  form, anxiety coursing through him, when his arm was grabbed by someone and pulled, barely stopping him in time.

"I'm here, you idiot." Nami's familiar voice came as a relief for Ace. He breathed deeply before focusing on her tense posture, noticing how she had her natural ears and two tails out. "You were starting to follow the trail I left earlier today."

"So, what is it?" Ace followed Nami's lead and let some of his  _Kitsune_  features appear as his earlier relief changed to worry. There was no doubt something serious was happening.

Nami pressed her lips in a thin line and made a gesture with her head for Ace to follow her. They didn't talk while walking, but before Ace could ask again, she stopped and turned to him.

"I was going to search for a safe place to stay during the storm when I found that." Nami said while looking to her left.

He followed the direction and saw, to his surprise, a young woman sitting against a tree. Her status as a  _miko_  was clear by her traditional white  _haori_  and red  _hakama_  and Ace wondered if she was from the temple that was on the other side of the forest. Her black hair was wet even though it still wasn't raining, and she had her eyes closed, a peaceful expression on her face while she sat cross-legged. Her most strange feature, however, were the thin lines creating scale patterns close to her eyes and going down the sides of her cheeks.

" _Tsukimono_?" Ace turned to Nami with a frown. "By what?"

"I have no idea, but there's no doubt she's possessed." She nodded before her hands clenched and she turned worried eyes to Ace. "Now look at what she's holding."

Ace approached the woman slowly before crouching in front of her, uneasiness coursing through him once again. Both her hands rested on her lap, but only one was closed tightly around what seemed to be some sort of red cloth. From what he could see, its side was strangely cut, possibly having been ripped from a bigger piece.

Ace glanced at Nami, but at her expectant look, he turned his attention back to the cloth. That was when the soft breeze surrounding them got a bit stronger and a faint smell reached Ace's nose.

He closed his eyes in concentration, for he knew it was familiar. When his mind finally connected it to its origin, Ace's eyes snapped open and widened, a piercing cold feeling washing over him. There was no way he could mistake it.

"That's from Luffy!"


End file.
